Written by

Luke Ranker

For Daily Herald Media

Stevens Point Log Homes uses its office building along Interstate 39 as a sales display. / Gannett Central Wisconsin Media

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STEVENS POINT — Editorís note: Daily Herald Media will publish on Wednesday our annual Made in Central Wisconsin special section, a 34-page guide to businesses across the region. Through Tuesday, we will present a daily business profile as a preview of the section.

Itís hard to visualize Wisconsinís Northwoods without a log cabin somewhere in the picture. And itís hard to drive north from Stevens Point without seeing one particularly large log building along Interstate 39.

That blue-roof building is the headquarters and primary showcase for Stevens Point Log Homes, which has brought a Northwoods design style to homeowners across the United States.

Although their company has a national reach, owner Rich Smigaj and sales manager Aaron Cordy say their focus largely is on the Midwest. They began as a wholesale dealer, supplying other builders with material. In 2000, they branched out into the retail side of the industry, offering complete log homes or just certain features.

Since then, Stevens Point Log Homes, at 1203 Stans Drive, has built a home in every state in the country.

Question: What makes Stevens Point Log Homes a unique choice when buying a home or in the home-building industry?

Smigaj: Log homes in general is a pretty niche aspect of the industry. Whatís unique about us is that we process all of our own material.

Cordy: What makes us stand out in the crowd of other companies in the log home industry (is that) we really specialize in custom components and home plans. We look for customersí needs and wants and focus on what works for them.

Q: With your production facility in Mosinee, why put the retail office here in Stevens Point?

Smigaj: The saw mill is in the middle of nowhere. Itís loud and noisy. To grow our business, we need a more high-profile location. This is about as high profile as it gets on I-39 going up to the northern resort region.

Cordy: We both live in Stevens Point and most of our employees live in Point, too.

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Q: How has Point Log Homes weathered the housing market downturn?

Cordy: The market changed for the worse about four years ago. That was right after we had finished this model (the Stevens Point office). That truly excelled us. If we would have stayed in Mosinee, we wouldnít have gotten the exposure. This office is a 24-hour billboard for us. Itís hard to talk about Stevens Point Log Homes with the blue metal roof without someone knowing who we are.